GM candidates Will Bobrowski, Lisa Bucellato, and Gil Valadez, and PU candidates Mark Anderson, Eric Griffith, and Ariana Twitchell took the stage to address the concerns of the student body and show they had what it takes to hold their prospective positions.

All six of the candidates noted during the debates that widespread student apathy and a view that student government presently lacks motivation and does not satisfy the needs of students must be positively altered.

They all stressed that creating a strong student government that meets the needs of students would serve to make students more content about life at Rensselaer. "I have a vision of hard working, dedicated student government as the agent of change," said Valadez.

While the GM candidates agreed in many respects about what needed to be done, each of the GM candidates offered a different perspective of what was the most important aspect of what student government should be.

Bobrowski emphasized the importance of working with the administration in order to affect real change. He said that if elected, he would make it one of his most important jobs to fill all the student seats on the task forces and committees that exist at RPI.

"The fact is that every time one of those seats goes vacant, that is a student voice that’s not heard. That’s a student perspective that’s lost in the shuffle," he said.

Bucellato focused more on getting students involved in student government, and improving relations with the student body.

"Students are not informed about what goes on in the Student Senate," she said. "We are in the dark. We are clueless, and I hope next year to inform students: What does the Senate do? What exactly do we accomplish at our meetings?"

Valadez stressed the need for the Senate to work with itself and with other student government bodies before anything can be accomplished. "The GM and PU need to sit down on a regular basis and discuss the issues of the bodies and make sure the bodies are working in sync and in unison."

The GM candidates differed greatly on how best to prevent student senators from becoming demoralized about being unable to accomplish desired goals, but concurred on the need for order and leadership in the Senate.

Bucellato highlighted the value of strong leadership by the GM. "The GM needs to act as a role model to show students we can produce results. Strong leadership is the key," said Bucalleto.

Valadez said senators must "bring an air of professionalism to the Senate." To ensure that senators who did not get to speak up in the past get their chance in the future, Valadez said the GM must be a "firm director of conversation. Senators need to be heard."

Bobrowski recognized that the Senate could make more productive by eliminating reports discussion from the meeting agenda, "getting the platform onto one sheet, … finding out student interest," and enforcing rules of order.

The PU candidates predominantly agreed on the major issues facing the Union. They differed somewhat in how they plan to deal with those issues.

A major question posed toward the PU candidates involves the lack of interest in attending campus sporting events—other than men’s hockey. The candidates each felt that students should be provided with more information about on-going sporting events, but differed wholly on their methods for achieving this.

Anderson said it’s "largely a marketing issue." The Union should work to make the events more desirable for students.

Griffith suggested a strategy to target incoming freshman by having a committee review the first-year students’ high-school interests and sending out a contact message to all of them detailing the availability of enjoying their particular interests at RPI. They will "enter knowing something already to do."